A Rescue
by DeeDragonfly
Summary: The Saint in Inuyasha forces him to help a young woman lost in a forest, but by the end of the night, he ends up getting closer to her than he expected. But what can he do? He doesn't know why he likes this girl and what will Kagome do to him if she finds
1. An Explination

**A Rescue **by DeeDragonfly

Chapter 1: An Explanation

"Just drop it, will ya?" snapped Inuyasha, "I'm half-demon! Obviously I can handle myself! Haven't I proved that already?"

"I'm not saying that you're not, you big jerk!" yelled Kagome, "I just wanna know what happened to you! You had us all worried sick!"

"I was gone for a day and you call in a search party!"

"Well, it wasn't like it was any normal day, Inuyasha. That was the night you transformed into a human. You know what could of happened if a demon came along!"

"Of course I do! But I'm still here, aren't I? Am I missing any arms or legs? NO!"

"Well maybe you should cut off your foot and stick it up your--"

"I don't know why we're even having this conversation. I'm back so get over it!"

"You swore you would always protect me! So when you're not here, who's going to?"

Inuyasha glared at Kagome. She glared back. After awhile, he spoke again, "Sango and Miroku are capable, don't you agree?"

"Inuyasha! Sit!"

The necklace around Inuyasha's neck glowed as he soon tasted hard earth.

"You're-such-a-JERK!" she yelled.

As he lifted his head to curse Kagome to an early grave, she screamed again, "SIT! You can lie there until you want to tell me where you were!"

She walked back into the hut, almost walking straight into Miroku and Sango who were listening at the door. Since they heard the entire loud conversation, there was no need to ask questions.

Inuyasha lifted his head one more time to check if Kagome was there to say "sit" again. He sat up and rubbed his head. He sighed. _I can't blame her for being worried, but if I tell her, I'm not sure how she'll take it. And I can't take anymore of those "sit" commands. What do I do? _

He watched as Miroku exited the hut and stood in front of him, "So…?" 

"So what?" snapped Inuyasha.

Miroku hit him on top of his head with his staff, "You know what I'm talking about. Where did you go?"

"It's a long story…" said Inuyasha. _If there's anyone I can tell, it's Miroku, I guess... _

"Does it have anything to do with Kikyo?" 

"No! I has nothing to do with her!"

"Fine," Miroku sat down, "then tell me what happened."

Inuyasha nodded and looked up at the approaching darkness.

End of Chapter One


	2. The Rescue

Chapter 2: The Rescue

In his eyes, the sun was setting faster than usual. He could feel his inhuman speed decreasing as he grew tired. _I can't change now _Inuyasha thought _I have to get back to Kagome _. He took a quick glance up. The sun had almost completely fallen behind the trees. _Damn it. I'm not gonna make it. _Suddenly his still demon nose picked up the scent of blood. He stopped for a moment. Then he started running again, the saint inside him running towards the scent. His now human legs made it harder for him to move through the trees.

"Such a beauty of a thief," said one of the male villagers, "I don't know whether to punish you or have you marry me."

Two men held a young woman be her arms from behind. She glared at the men around her. The had beaten her and ripped the front of her robe, exposing parts of her breasts.

"Answer us!" said another villager, "What is your name wench!"

"You bastards don't deserve to know my name," she said still staring daggers at them.

"Feisty one, isn't she?" laughed a villager. He held his dagger to her neck, "I don't think you wanna get hurt anymore, do you?"

She spit at him. "You stupid wench!" He sliced her arm with his knife, the blood dripping on the floor.

"A woman like you needs to watch herself and learn her place! Maybe this will teach ya…" As he raised his dagger to take more of her blood, a hand grabbed his wrist from behind. The villagers turned and saw long black hair flowing in the night wind.

The dark-haired man easily beat up the villagers and they took off running.

Then he looked at the woman still sitting on the ground, "Are you alright?" Inuyasha asked. He reached out his hand to help her up. She took it, but flinched because of the pain in her arm. He knelt down and slowly pulled her up. She stared at him.

"Is this your village?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, "I'm lost… I'm not sure where I am right now. But I must get away from here now. I fear that those awful men will come back."

Inuyasha nodded and picked her up bridal-style, those it was a bit harder since he was human. He ran as fast as he could. She held on to his neck, still staring at him. He finally stopped and gently placed her by a tree. He sat down in front of her.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" she asked.

"I'm Inuyasha. I was just passing by when I saw that you were in trouble. So what's your name?" he asked as reached for the bottom of her robe and started to lift it.

She snatched it away from him, "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"Relax, I was just going to treat your wound." He ripped the bottom of her robe and wrapped it around the wound on her arm.

"My name's Akemi…I'm in search of my village…"

"In search? So you're lost?" he asked.

"Yes. I was kidnapped and abandoned about a week ago. I didn't know where I was so I've been wandering and stopping at villages for food and rest. I was sure I was getting close today, but I grew tired and hungry so I stopped by a river and fished. But I didn't know the fish were on a reserve, so the villagers came and ambushed me. And that's when you came in and saved me. By the way, I never got to thank you for that, so thank you," she looked at him.

"Don't mention it," he said, "so you think your village is near here?"

Akemi looked around at the trees, "It's hard to tell because it's too dark. I guess I'll have to wait 'til morning…I really wanna go home," she said sadly.

"I'll take you home in the morning," Inuyasha said feeling a bit sympathetic.

"You will?" she stared at his violet eyes, "But how? We may be too far away from it."

"Don't worry. You'll be back by tomorrow. I'll help you." he smiled.

"Really?" she looked overjoyed, "Oh thank you, Inuyasha!" She reached over and hugged him tight, never wanting to let him go.

_W-what's going on, _he thought. Reluctantly Inuyasha put his arms around her.

Akemi closed her eyes, soaking in the warmth of his body. She hadn't felt so comfortable since she was taken away from her village. She didn't want to move. Her rescuer was holding her and that was all she needed at the moment. She hadn't felt this way about anyone before. _Is this what love feels like? _she thought.

_These human emotions always get the better of me _thought Inuyasha _I shouldn't be doing this… but I don't want to let her go. I- I can't do it. Do I feel this way when I'm with Kagome?… _

Akemi pushed back from Inuyasha but didn't let go of his arms. There was something about him that she just couldn't put her finger on…What was different about him? Was he really just a normal human?

She didn't care either way. She was to enwrapped in the moment. She wanted to make it last forever. She leaned in slowly and pressed her lips against his with a soft kiss.

Inuyasha opened his eyes wide at the unexpected sign of affection…and returned it. All thoughts had suddenly escaped his mind and all he could think about was her…

She pulled back once more, "Inuyasha, once we get back to my village…will you stay with me?"

Inuyasha blushed slightly, "I-I can't…I have to go home, too." 

"Oh…"she said looking down at her knees, "I understand…" She sat back against the tree, "Well then, we better get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."

Inuyasha sat beside her. He heard he drift off into her dreams. _What am I gonna do now? _he thought right before he fell asleep.

End of Chapter Two


	3. Going Back

Chapter 3: Going Back

Inuyasha awoke to the sound of a loud scream. 

"What is it!" he yelled as he got into a fighting stance, "What's wrong?"

"A demon!" screamed Akemi, "Get away! Inuyasha! Save me!"

Inuyasha looked around, not seeing anything that could pose a threat. Then he realized what Akemi's frightened eyes were looking at. It was him.

"Akemi," said Inuyasha, "relax. I am Inuyasha. I'm a half-demon."

"I don't believe you demon!" said Akemi offensively, "You're not my Inuyasha!"

"I don't belong to anyone. And I don't care if you don't believe who I am. Let me take you back to your village because I've got places to be. Understand?"

Akemi looked at the amber eyes that she didn't recognize, then at the silver dog ears, "Inuyasha? W-what happened to you?"

He rolled his eyes, "I'm only human during a night with no moon. Otherwise I'm half demon. Can we get going now?"

She stood up. "Umm…can I…could I…"

"What is it now?" 

"Do you think I could touch your…ears?" she asked meekly.

_She goes from fearing me to wanting to pet my head! I don't understand women…that reminds me. I gotta get back to Kagome. I don't want her to worry too much. _

Inuyasha turned so his back faced Akemi and knelt down, "Feh, get on so I can take you back."

She climbed onto his back and grasped his ears, stroking them with her thumbs,

"Will you cut that out!" he snapped.

Akemi quickly put her hands on his shoulders.

"Hold on tight," he warned as ed above the trees heading east, "You got anything from your old village on you?"

"Umm…" Akemi looked at her robes and wondered, "I've got…this," she pulled out a small hand-woven napkin, "My mother made this for me and gave it to me the day before I got lost. What do you need it for?"

"I can find your village if I have a scent to follow." He took the napkin from her and put it to his nose, "It's faint, but I can spell another scent other than yours on it." He handed it back to Akemi, "It's not too far from here."

"Keep it."

"Huh?"

"You can keep the cloth to remember me by. Mother said that it is to be passed to someone you care about. So I'm giving it to you." she said happily.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

After a few moments, Inuyasha finally landed in Akemi's village. Inuyasha let her down off his back. Akemi looked at her home and then back at Inuyasha.

"I don't know how to thank you for bringing me home."

"Yeah, it's no problem. Now no one can say I don't do anyone any favors."

A passing villager stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Akemi. He pointed, "I-it's her! S-she has r-returned!" His eyes widened and more villagers stopped and stared.

Akemi smiled, "Looks like they really missed me!"

_Then why do they look so frightened? thought Inuyasha Is it because she's with me? _

"I better go get reacquainted with everyone? Thanks again Inuyasha," she kissed him on the cheek and ran towards the crowd of villagers.

Inuyasha shook his head and mumbled, "That's my good deed for the month. I better get- huh?" Inuyasha stopped and looked around. His eyes shifted through the trees. _I coulda sworn I just smelt Naraku's scent… but it's gone. Is he near? _"So that's what happened," said Inuyasha.

"Interesting… but something puzzles me," said Miroku.

"What's that?" 

"Why did you kiss Akemi? It's not like you at all. You haven't even kissed Kagome yet."

"What makes you think I even want to kiss Kagome? And for your information, Miroku, she kissed me!"

"But you did not deny her the kiss," noted Miroku.

"So what! I blame my damn human form. I wouldn't have this problem if it weren't a new moon," he punched the ground.

"But still, do your human emotions affect you that much when you transform? You haven't done anything like this before," he stroked his chin in thought, "And then you say you briefly sensed Naraku's presence, correct?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that it was that bastard, but it was gone as quickly as it came. I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it."

"Well then," Miroku said as he stood up, "That's something to think about, but for now, we should get some sleep. Oh and I wouldn't mention Akemi to Kagome. Take it from me. It wouldn't be pretty."

"Keh, I'm not that stupid," he stood up as well.

"Good, then I'm going to bed. You sleeping inside?"

"No, I'm stayin' out here. Something tells me Kagome's ready and waiting with her 'sit' commands." He leapt into a nearby tree and crossed his arms.

Miroku nodded and went back inside the hut. 

Inuyasha stared at the moon, lost in his thoughts. _Even if I was human, that doesn't explain why I felt that way about Akemi. And why did those villagers seem frightened when they saw her? You would think that they would be overjoyed or something. I don't understand what's goin' on… _  
End of Chapter 3


	4. Secrets

Chapter 4: Secrets

The sun rose slowly above the hills, gracing the earth with its presence. The birds sang sweetly to awake the dreaming. A cool breeze blew through the trees, making them sway. A dark figure walked slowly towards a castle in the distance. Within moments she was at its entrance. A smaller figure dressed in white lead her inside. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway lined with skeletons. The white figure stopped in front of a door and the dark figure entered. She looked around and jumped slightly when she heard a deep voice speak.

"Did it work?" asked the voice. 

"Yes. My spell worked perfectly on the half breed. He's none the wiser."

"Was there any interference?"

"The village almost blew my cover, but besides that, the first phase of your plan went off without a hitch, Master Naraku." (gasp) 

"Good," said Naraku, "Then continue with your work. Kanna will be watching you."

"I understand," the dark figure bowed and turned to leave.

"Akemi," he called out making her stop and turn back around. "Don't disappoint me." Akemi nodded and left the castle.

"Men!" yelled Sango, "You're all alike! Every last one of you!" 

"You're overreacting Sango," said Miroku calmly. 

Inuyasha awoke from the sound of the yelling. What are they goin' on about?

"I am not! You're lucky Kagome didn't hear you two last night," she crossed her arms and glared at Miroku with fire in her eyes, "She'd be crushed if she found out what happened, let alone that neither of you were gonna tell her!" 

"You know as well as I do that if Inuyasha told her, all hell would break lose," he said in the same calm tone.

"You're right about that," agreed Sango, "Kagome would lose her voice form saying 'sit' so much."

"Which reminds me, how did you hear our conversation and she didn't?"

"I heard you guys start talking and when you mentioned Kikyo, I didn't think Kagome should listen. So I told Shippo to invite her to pick some herbs. After that, I stayed and listened to the whole thing." 

Miroku chuckled, "Who would have thought that Sango the brave and noble demon slayer was an eavesdropper."

"I am not!" snapped Sango.

"Sounds like that to me," said Inuyasha who had just jumped out of his tree, "Ever heard of a little thing called privacy?"

"Ever heard of a little thing call loyalty? Where do you get off going off with some girl! I mean, I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it was Kikyo, but this was a girl you just met!"

"Don't you think I know that!" he snapped.

"No." she snapped back.

"What was I suppose to do? Leave her to get beat up by those villagers!" he said raising his voice.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't have helped her! I'm saying that maybe you should try to keep your hormones under control once in a while!" she shouted, raising hers above his.

"You wanna say that again?" he growled as he balled his fist.

"Sango, Inuyasha understands what he's done, but we have a theory about why," stated Miroku. 

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "We do?"

"Well, I have a theory," he explained, "You see, Inuyasha is usually an untrusting, tough, short-tempered, a little dense—"

"I think we get it!" said Inuyasha loudly.

"As I was saying," continued Miroku, "Inuyasha doesn't typically show his 'intimate' feelings and when he's human, his emotions do tend to show a bit more, but not to that extent. Inuyasha, did Akemi do anything unusual or strange?"

"Not really, she seemed like an ordinary girl to me. Maybe a little slow because she got so lost. Her village wasn't far from where we were."

"Do you think Akemi had something to do with Inuyasha's behavior?" asked Sango.

"Well obviously Akemi must have been very beautiful or Inuyasha wouldn't have reacted with such passion," smirked Miroku.

"Excuse me!" snapped Inuyasha defensively, "We're talkin' about me here, not you, Miroku." 

"Then I doubt Akemi had anything to do with it," he replied simply, "Where were you coming from when you met her?" 

"I was coming from Totosai's place. I was tired of not being protected when I transform, so I asked him if there was a way I could still use the Tetsaiga."

"And what did he say?" 

"The old man kept forgetting what he was saying! And by that time the sun was already setting so I had to leave. I shouldn't've wasted my time going to see that old bat!"

"And you felt completely normal at Totosai's?" inquired Miroku. 

"Yeah, it's not like I ate or drank nothin'. And no demon came along."

_There's no way Inuyasha kissed her on his own _, thought Miroku, _Something must have gotten to him while he was in that forest. The only question is, what _

There was a long pause as they were all lost in thought. Suddenly—

"I'm back!" said a loud voice brightly. They turned around to see Kagome smiling and holding her large book bag.

"Back? Back from where?" asked Inuyasha.

"From my time. After Shippo and I finished picking herbs yesterday I realized that I hardly had any supplies left. So I went home today to restock. Sango didn't you tell them?'

"Oh I must've forgotten," said Sango, "Sorry about that."

"Glad to know I was missed," she mumbled.

"I missed you Kagome!" exclaimed Shippo as he bounded out of a near by hut and into her arms.

_Shippo was there the entire time! _they all thought.

_If Shippo heard our conversation… _thought Miroku.

_Then he's gonna tell Kagome! _thought Sango.

_That runt better not say a word _Inuyasha growled in his mind.

He gave Sango a look that clearly meant "Do something!"

"Uh… Shippo?" said Sango, "I need your help with something. Can you come with me?"

"Sure Sango!" agreed Shippo. He followed behind her as she walked into the hut.

"What was that about?" asked Kagome.

"I dunno," answered Miroku quickly, "So Kagome, what did you bring back?"

"Oh right!" she said as she reached for her book bag and pulled out some treats.

Meanwhile back in the hut.

"Shippo did you hear anything we said out there before," asked Sango quietly. 

"How couldn't I?" he said happily, "You all were shouting."

"That's what I was afraid of. Listen Shippo, you can't tell anyone about what we talked about, especially Kagome."

"Personally I think Kagome should know what a dog Inuyasha is."

"But you wouldn't want to make Kagome upset, would you? She might leave and not come back to us."

"Not come back! If Inuyasha makes Kagome leave I'll never forgive him!" 

"Exactly," smiled Sango, "So let's just keep it a secret, okay? It would make everyone happier."

Shippo thought about it, "Okay, as long as Inuyasha doesn't hit me anymore. Otherwise, I'll tell."

Sango nodded in agreement and sighed with relief.

Miroku poked his head into the hut. "Everything okay now?" he asked Sango.

She nodded. 

"Good, then come back out. Kagome's brought food." 

They followed him outside where Kagome had laid out a buffet of breakfast foods for them to enjoy. Sango sat next to Inuyasha and whispered something in his ear while pointing at Shippo.

"What?" he growled.

End of Chapter 4


End file.
